"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
His face has grown gaunt, sunken around the bone protrusions that mark the ridges of his jaw and the flat plain of his face. His green eyes are darker than the last time he had seen Hyaline but they are still his ─ deep emerald, glimmering bright, but perhaps more dull than mischievous these days. The bone-armored stallion is exhausted ─ so exhausted ─ from the efforts of his travels.
He had searched. And searched. And searched.
But his parents had disappeared from Beqanna. And he has come to terms with their absence now, at least to the point of realization that he has done everything in his power to find them. If they had remained on the island, he would have found them. But how had they gotten off the island? Their scents had not disappeared into the sea ─ they had manifested in Sylva, in the depths of their golden forest, and without a trace they were gone. His nostrils quiver as he pushes the thought from his head, burying it deep as his green eyes fall on Solace's sanctum.
Gone is the boy she had known. A tired, empty man has returned in his place.
The light bay stallion follows a well-worn path towards the crystalline basin, his hooves working their way down the shale of the outer territory. He travels further and further in, the air growing warmer as he meanders but never bringing the wisteria to blossom. One more season, he realizes, and then the flowers will bloom their brilliant purple. He hopes he is still here to see them then.
The son of Dahmer and Ellyse breaks through the inner forest of red maple and cherry, green eyes finally settling on the crystalline lake that is Hyaline's heart. He is awestruck for a moment, heart pattering excitedly for the first time in what feels like forever, before he whinnies hoarsely into the crisp spring air.
"Solace?" he questions across the lake, his throat suddenly very dry.
S M O A K here's a handshake, soldier, 'cause we both lost the war
05-08-2018, 04:21 PM (This post was last modified: 05-08-2018, 04:23 PM by Solace.)
Solace
. . .
They were beyond her control, all those she loved, and It had taken her years to accept that. They rarely said goodbye, they came and they went, and each departure poisoned the memories they left her with. Yet like the stones on the mountainsides, she remained. Only in brief intervals had she left her home over the last three years, and never long enough to sleep anywhere other than Hyaline. Even as her friends and family vanished, she remained rooted.
"It will be easier for them to find me," she had justified, in her younger years, (for it had been true) but now she no longer tries to explain away her quirks.
Hyaline was where she belonged.
Svedka had always returned to her, and she had silently believed that she had not seen the last of Smoak - even if years had passed. Those she loved most always returned.
Her name echoes across the surface of the lake, pulling her gently from the sleep Kagerus had given her. The lake is visible from where she rests, yet the owner of the voice is not clear. Placing a kiss to Kagerus cheek, Solace sets off to find the source of the call, which echoes hauntingly in her mind as she travels. But as Solace reaches the bank, she halts.
"Smoak," his name fall from her lips the moment she sees his gold pelt and ivory armor. The width of the lake divides them, and she stands wide-eyed and astonished for a moment too long.
From the top of the bank, she springs, unfurling the expanse of her cerulean wings to glide above the surface of the water. Had she had her wings the last time they met? She thinks back to that strange day, the flurried excitement of their brief meeting which she hadn't known would be their last in adolescence.
(No, she hadn't had her wings back then.)
Solace's hooves touch the earth as she takes several strides to slow her momentum, and brings herself to the side of her childhood friend. She is older now; her winter coat is plush and full and many sleepless nights have drawn her mouth taut. She sought out Kagerus to help her sleep more and more these days, the dreams were addicting - her own form of escape where she never had to leave her kingdom. But her cheeks are full, and her blue eyes still often sparkle when she smiles, for the things she had to be thankful for greatly outweighed her sleepless nights. She gives him that smile now, but it wistful and hesitant - there is a question posed on her lips, and she has no idea how this rugged, travel-worn version of Smoak will answer.
"Where have you been," she asks, with no hint of judgment or hostility. She had spent hours turning over that question in her mind after he and Svedka had departed for their journey, and there was a time when she would have sacrificed her crown to know where he was, and if he was ok.
Smoak's anxious mind and staccato heartbeat are thankful that the beautiful blue-tinted best friend of his childhood heeds his call. But she is no child anymore ─ she has grown into her previously lanky legs, the curve of her hip prominent despite the shag of her winter coat. And her wings. He is in awe as she glides across the lake, wings extended proudly. Much has changed, but he would know her anywhere, even with the new additional of her feathered appendages. And even with the sleepiness that clings to the corners of her eyes. Her familiar, welcoming scent mingles with the unfamiliar scent of another, but the bay stallion is too overjoyed to be so near to her that this observation is noted as low priority for the time being.
She smiles hesitantly at him but does not close the distance between their bodies as he would have expected her to ─ young Solace would have bounded to him, nearly knocking them both over before that sheepish blush would find her face. He smiles warmly at the thought and steps closer to press his cheek gently to hers as her intrigue falls from her lips.
"Looking for my parents," he tells her without preamble or uncertainty. She deserves the truth from him and he deserves someone to share it with for the first time in years. "They disappeared," he tells her, the sad grimace reaching his voice as he pulls his bone-armored face from hers, "They're gone from Beqanna. I would have found them if they weren't."
His green eyes inspect her for a moment before he nudges her again on the cheek and smiles warmly at this feeling of home. "Wings, huh?" trying to move the conversation to Solace. "I didn't know you could look anymore beautiful," he adds offhandedly, with a small inkling of his old self hidden somewhere in the depths of the thin man's body.
"What have I missed, Lace? Tell me everything."
S M O A K here's a handshake, soldier, 'cause we both lost the war
"Looking for my parents," he tells her as the ivory ridges of his face press into the curve of her cheek. She can feel his grief and he goes on (one emotion they had rarely shared together in their golden childhood) and her lids closes heavily over the crystalline blue of her eyes. "I'm sorry," she sighs, and as he pulls his face away winters chill fills the place he leaves vacant. She remembers the heartbreak she had felt when her family had left to travel beyond Beqanna, the anger which had bubbled up, and how pointless her days in Tephra had felt as she wandered the beaches alone.
And she had known they would be back, in time.
"Maybe they went to wherever Tangerine is from, Svedka loved it there," she suggests as her features brighten. She knew of the plains only by reputation, but what she did know was only positive.
There is a flash of her childhood friend in the green eyes of this man, and that glimpse melts away the hesitancy which had bridled her before. "I'm happy your back," she says, draping her neck across his withers and not letting her mind wander where it wishes to go next - to wonder how long he will stay.
"I don't even know where to start," she replies as she pulls away from the embrace. "I'm still Caretaker, and Hyaline is as healthy as ever... even if the other kingdoms are at each others throats."
She wonders if she is buying herself time by talking about politics, and Solace stops herself. The rustling of her wings rustling by her sides the only sound as she falls silent.
"I found someone, Smoak." She smiles as she looks up into his eyes, but the hesitation has returned and she doesn't lie to herself - she knows the source of it. She had spent the first four years of her life denying that she was in love with him, and now the life experience she had been lacking back then lends clarity to her past.
"Hyaline's Protector, Kagerus, she's wonderful. She's a dreamer, a warrior, and a talented diplomat too." Then a smile parts her lips, and her words come quicker when she speaks again. "She had to battle Warrick in the Alliance, and she won... but he was a good sport about it, of course. He really likes her."
But once again she bites her tongue, wondering if she has said too much or if her oldest friend will be happy for her.
"No apology needed, my dear, unless you are hiding them away," he responds with the hint of a smile curving up the corners of his mouth. He withdraws from her, albeit slightly, and the new space between them is cold but mixed with her scent and he can feel himself relaxing in her presence. His childhood friend, ever the optimist, offers a simple solution to his problems ─ the plains, where Tangerine is from. He chuckles quietly in response and gives a gentle nod in affirmation. That was an explanation he could wrap his mind around. Perhaps they were not actually in the plains with the wild and free, beneath the millions of stars that Svedka had told him so much about, but it will do for now. Until his worry comes back, full-fledged, and forces him to search again.
"I'm happy to be back, too," he whispers gently, the words wrought with emotion as the blue-tinted girl drapes her neck over his withers. Smoak leans into the embrace, a quiet sigh slipping from his maw at the warmth and familiarity of her. He is self-conscious, for a brief moment, of the severe dip in his back and the sharp presence of his ribs, but the beautiful winged woman seems not to notice nor care about the state of his thin thoroughbred frame and for that Smoak is thankful.
Their embrace ends too soon and he does his best not to look disappointed, but the son of Dahmer and Ellyse is caught up quickly in Solace's excitement. "Hyaline is lucky to have you at its helm, Lace," he tells her truthfully, his boyish grin returning and his spirits rising. Politics had been far from his mind for as long as he had been gone, but now that he has returned and the sanctity of Hyaline, Solace, and Svedka could be threatened by outside forces, Smoak finds it easy to jump back into the conversation about foreign relations. "Which kingdoms? Do any threaten Hyaline?"
His ears flutter, emerald eyes watching Solace closely as her demeanor begins to change. She seems hesitant for a moment, unsure in her silence; her wings rustle at her sides awkwardly and Smoak purses his lips in confusion.
I found someone, Smoak.
Admittedly, he hadn't expected for those words to fall from her lips and he struggles for a moment, silent as the uncertainty reaches her usually warm eyes. "Oh," he expels with a quiet exhale, though he's unsure if it will come across as surprise or disappointment. Kagerus. Smoak mulls over the name in his mind, listening intently as the painted girl tells him of her lover. He smiles fondly at the mention of Warrick, deciding that he would need to venture to Tephra as soon as he was feeling healthy enough. "I'm so happy for you, Lace," he says after a moment of heavy silence, his soft muzzle reaching out to nuzzle against her cheek again. "She sounds like she is good for you, and for Hyaline."
He pauses, more words caught on the back of his tongue as he wonders just how candid he could really be. After a few moments, he gives her a smile of whimsy. "I knew things would change in my absence but..." but what? but I had never expected them to change this much? but I had never thought I would come back to find you happy with someone else? He, as a colt, had been no sturdy or stable shoulder for her to lean on (in friendship, yes, of course ─ but he had been folly to think that he would have years to tell her how he truly felt). Any missed chances are his fault and his alone.
"And what of Svedka? Has he found someone to keep him in line?" he asks nonchalantly, in an attempt to change the subject to something that would bring him a little less emotional turmoil.
S M O A K here's a handshake, soldier, 'cause we both lost the war
She does notice, and her heart ached to see the way his topline sinks in places that should be swollen, and the lack of muscle in his once powerful shoulders. Before he had been the picture of vitality, the colt she knew had faced Tephra's storms with strength and energy.
But as he speaks her worry eases; he had not lost his spark. His health would return if he would let it, and she had a feeling he would. His charm is still there, and she would see him returned to his former, golden glory if he would stay this time.
"You should have taken better care of yourself," she wants to say as their bodies pull away from the other, each returning to their own orbit. "I would have searched alongside you, had I known why you left."
But she lets the past rest, not questioning the fleeting look of discomfort or uneasiness which crosses his features in the fleeting silence. He too seems content to move along with her, to leave whatever hunger there may have been tucked away and out of sight.
"Hyaline has been left out of Sylva's attacks so far, but Tephra has not been so lucky. We know Loess is bound to Sylva in some way, but they have not caused any trouble yet. Loess has always been a quiet kingdom." For a time, when Castile had been regent, she had not had to worry about their neighbor to the south, but her meeting with Athas had been full of tension. He had set her on edge, although she hardly showed it, and her flights over that border had become more frequent. "We have strong allies in Tephra, Ischia, and Nerine, and Hyaline has strength of her own."
But soon she finds Kageru's name spilling from her lips, along with their relationship, and he is giving her another look that she isn't quite sure how to read. It passes, though and she finds herself looking into smiling, green eyes once again.
"Thank you," she murmurs, as she briefly leans into his gentle touch, not realizing she had needed his blessing until she had it.
Then Svedka is there with them in spirit, her twin had always been her fail-safe, and the tension dissipates. "A few too many someones, if you ask me," she replies lightly in a tone which lacks any bite, "but none of them keep him in line... he hasn't changed a bit"
With a contented sigh, Solace looks back over her shoulder to the Lake. She knew he search was not over, it may never be, but it was good to have him back for now. "Common' Smoak, It may be winter, but there is still some good grazing on the south side of the lake. I need to fatten you up before I introduce you to everyone."
